thoughts on life, movies, books... through the eyes of a modern orthodox single woman

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Kiruv Rock

The kiruv videos that feature popular music are always fun to watch. They are often used to reel people into a life of frumkeit. This doesn't really bother me but I it does make me pause. Often the same types of people that are encouraging kiruv are also advocating folks not to listen to secular music. How do they reconcile the dichotomy? It might be better for them to make an original video with music that is in the genre of popular music but not an actual song. Whenever I watch these kiruv videos it always makes me want to listen to the real song. Sometimes the Jewish version of the song is more fun than the real one (like the maccabeats candlelight) but it does make me curious abut the real one none the less. If they made their own version of a rock song with a frum theme it would be better.
I actually find it fun to randomly hear the real song that the kiruv song is plagiarized from. It makes me have a double take. I am usually in a store and I can't figure out where I have heard the song before and then I realize what the song is. I don't think that this is what the kiruv set is banking on, but if they tried to be more original they might be more true to their ideals. They should stop being lazy . You don't have to piggy back on someone else's song's popularity to make someone like your song or gain interest in Judaism. An original song can be created that would peak someone's interest, and then when they are told secular music might not be the best to listen to they won't be hypocritical.

These guys, and others, definitely deserve more exposure. I got into Blue Fringe after being a fan of secular alternative rock music - it was a very smooth transition. I still listen to secular music on occasion - and there are some nice songs out there - but you definitely need to filter out the meaningless or nivul peh/relationships songs.